


The Trees Breathe

by Raisans_Grapeon



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Banter, Paranormal Investigators, haunted forest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 09:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17864894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raisans_Grapeon/pseuds/Raisans_Grapeon
Summary: Perchant Woods is a supposedly haunted forest, spirits of those who died in it inhabiting the trees and whispering to each other in sorrow. Shane and Ryan set out to see if they could catch some evidence of these spirits on audio.





	The Trees Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, thank you for dropping in.
> 
> Couple of notes, first this is a fic written for a little zine that a discord server I'm in is doing. It's a lot of fun working with these people, and this fic was for one particular section, dedicated to the ghost hunting portion of the ghoul boys. The server has every intent of sending this zine to Shane and Ryan, so in order to stave off embarrassment, I kept this writing rather tame. Which explains why there is virtually no plot to be seen. 
> 
> Another note, Perchant Woods isn't a place you can visit. I made it up for the story. Though, I did do some research into local Native American Tribes in Northern New York in order to ground the location in reality. Sorry for any sort of slip ups or misunderstandings when it comes to that subject.
> 
> Finally, my writing is not the best so if you see anything that can be improved on, tell me! I'm always aiming to improve!
> 
> Enjoy the story.

A full moon hung high above the Earth, shining it’s gaze down upon the aging leaves of autumn with a ethereal light. The fiery reds and yellows were muted in the night, while the browns looked black, and diseased as they tumbled down with their fallen brothers on the ground. The branches twisted amongst each other, reaching overhead in an attempt to shield the sky from anyone’s sight. Amidst the trunks, two men weaved their way about, unable to keep their steps light and silent against the fall floor, followed by a humble cameraman. They both held small flashlights, light spilling out into the forest. On their chest, cameras were strapped to record the area. Wind whistled through the high up branches, and caused a jolt in the shorter of the two.

“Did you hear that, Shane?” The man’s voice was hushed, holding up a box to one of the trees. The air within the forest was still, the ground laying undisturbed. Everything held its breath.

The taller one, named Shane, looked about with clear disinterest. “Ryan, it’s literally the wind,” he reasoned loudly. One foot scoffed against the earth, kicking up a few wayward leaves into the air.

Ryan silenced Shane hastily, jabbing his elbow into his friend’s side. “Shut up, you’re ruining the audio!” He breathed delicately as he stood rigid, gazing up into the treetops. The leaves were still.

Reluctantly, Shane kept still as well, using his flashlight to scan the surrounding area. The light bounced off bark and branches, casting ominous shadows that lashed out like claws. Squirrels scurried across the trees to reach any lingering nuts that may hang relentlessly. Twigs snapped under the creatures’ weight, often getting Ryan’s head to snap about in similar fashion.

The silence became too much for Ryan, who finally broke it. “I think we’re far enough in. Let’s shoot the intro.” As much as he fought for it, he couldn’t keep the nervousness from his voice. He was getting the sort of chill up his spine that suggested that a room full of people were glaring into his back.

Shane merely nodded, and looked over to the cameraman. “Yo, Mark. You got the chairs?”

Mark nodded, sliding the folded up camping chairs off of his shoulder. “Be ready in 5?”

“Sure thing,” Ryan responded, grabbing one of the chairs and pulling it from it’s thin sleeve.

Shane picked out one as well. “How much gossip do you have on this place?”

Ryan hummed lightly, brows furrowed a bit as he popped the chair out fully. “A fair amount. The legend is fairly simple, and we should be able to breeze through it.”

“Which means more fun times in a murder forest,” Shane observed, opening up his own chair.

“It’s not a murder forest!,” Ryan quickly refuted. “It’s a haunted forest!”

“Now, I’m not excited. I thought we were going to find some bones!”

“Only you would be excited about finding human remains.”

“Don’t lie, you would be into that.”   


“I absolutely would not! No one wants to find a dead body!”

“You do. You don’t have to lie to yourself, Ryan. It’s okay, I accept you.” Shane rested a hand on Ryan’s shoulder, eyes soft.

“Get off me, Sasquatch!” Ryan shrugged his friend’s hand off his shoulder. “I talk about murders for a living, I don’t want to be involved in one!”

“What’s so bad about finding some bones? It’s not like you’re finding a fully fleshed body or anything!”

“Still! You find something, you are suspect number one. I don’t want that.” Ryan dropped down onto his chair, leaning back into the plasticy fabric. A light breeze hit the shorter man square in the face, making his eyes flutter for a second. “Geez.”

“Windy?,” Shane quired with contemptuous tone. A smirk slipped effortlessly onto his face.

Ryan glowered, shooting his co-host a firm glare. “Shut up, Shane.”

The taller investigator only chuckled heartily, resting himself onto his chair with his knees hiking up in order for his feet to lay flat on the ground. After a few seconds of silent consideration, Shane extended his legs out so his feet rested on the heel of his shoe. 

“We’re good on this end, whenever you two are ready!,” Mark announced, standing behind one of 3 smaller cameras he had set up on stationary tripods. One was focused on both of the hosts while the other two were trained on Shane and Ryan individually. Each camera had a soft red light that indicated that they were recording. 

Ryan held his hands out, and the cameraman tossed over a plain manila folder with only a few sheets of paper inside, with Ryan’s script printed. Ryan nodded, and placed the folder in his lap. looking into the main camera. Shane followed in suit. “This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we are in New York to investigate the haunted forest, Perchant Woods, in our ongoing investigation into the question, are ghosts real?” Ryan turned his head over to his personal camera on instinct, barely pausing before finishing the intro off with the question. He purposely ignored Shanes head shake, seamlessly continuing into the episode. “As you can see, it’s dark, and densely wooded.” He gestured lamely behind him to emphasize his point to his friend. 

“That’s why they call it the woods, Ryan,” Shane shot back matter of factly, but didn’t look at Ryan as if he was stupid. 

“Yes, but you’ll soon see why I wish there were less trees in this particular forest.” 

“You heard it here first folks,” Shane raised his voice as he stared into his camera. “Ryan supports deforestation. Tear it all down, he says!” His voice quickly grew over dramatic, one hand taking the liberty of swishing upwards. 

Ryan sputtered, breaking down into light laughter. “Wait, no! Let’s just start!” He opened up his folder before Shane could say otherwise, the taller man just sinking back into his chair to listen to Ryan’s tale. “Perchant Woods has been the center of myths and legends for the local Native American tribes for centuries. There are many variations depending on who you ask, but they all have the same basic structure. Some benevolent entity rests upon these woods, preserving the souls of those who have died, or been lost, within the trunks of the trees.”

_ well, that’s nice! very benevolent _

**yeah, it’s nicer than most of the ghosts and demons we normally seek out**

_ so why do you wish there wasn’t a little ghoul saving souls? _

**ch-w-because! they’re still ghosts!**

_ you think the ghost of little Timmy, who just- like- wandered a little too far from home _

**well-**

_ he doesn’t deserve a nice life as a tree? he’s not gonna hurt you, Ryan _

**you don’t know that. just because some entity persevered the souls of the lost doesn’t mean all the souls were necessarily good people**

_ see, now you’re just making assumptions. and you know what they say when you assume _

**yeah**

_ you make an ass out of  you and me _

“Some Iroquoi communities in particular believed that the Great Peacemaker, a mythological leader that united the tribe, is the one who is preserving the souls, while others believe in some other mortal dying within, and protecting those who had a similar fate.”

_ so a ghost is trapping ghosts in trees? _

**that’s just two common ideas tossed about. some think that there’s some sort of god living inside**

_ right _

**basically it boils down to, something is putting people into trees**

_ sure. we’ll go with that _

“Regardless, all the variations say the same thing. Perchant Woods supposedly has hundreds of souls within its trees. Which is why we’re here today. There has been multiple reports of voices in the dead of night, whimpers and screams, and sometimes, the sounds of pacing. Some notable sentences that pop up in a lot of these reports are, quote, ‘where am I?’ end quote and, quote, ‘free me,’ end quote. Various paranormal investigators around the area have caught recordings of conversations in the distance, when there were no known people camping out in the forest.”

_ you can’t know that! you can’t know that-- _

**there are people keeping records of who’s out here!**

_ suddenly there aren’t hobos?! when-- I-- when did we solve homelessness?! _

**there were no people around at the time. they did parameter checks to make sure there was no outside interference**

_ you can’t be sure though _

**shut up, Shane**

Shane pushed himself out of his chair, playing up his annoyance to a comical point. “This is horse shit, let’s just get this over with!” He took large steps, lumbering off into the woods with no equipment. 

Before he could get too far, Shane was stopped by Mark yelling back, “And that’s a wrap for that! Come back over so I can get your chest cameras on, and we’ll be ready for the main ep!” The cameraman opened up a small bag and pulled out two gopros on chest harnesses. 

Shane sauntered over to Mark, a tired smile barely ghosting his lips. “This is how I want to spend a Friday night. Out in the middle a spooky forest with the souls of the lost.” His passive taunts only garnered a glare from Ryan who was busying himself with stowing away the chairs. Shane merely sent back a cheeky smile. 

The group of investigators ran through last minute checks with the equipment before they set off again to delve further into the woods. Ryan had specifically asked Shane to keep the banter at a minimum for the episode since a lot of the evidence that they could get was auditory. It was an effort, but the taller man had managed to keep his mouth shut. 

For ten minutes. 

Tired of the dead silence, Shane called out, “Ghosts? Spirits? Maybe the anonymous figure that has the propensity to lock souls into trees? You mind giving us something? Anything? I am sacrificing a good night’s sleep for you, after all.” His voice was welcoming enough, but there was the slight hint of a jeer mixed in.

Ryan shot a glare back, but said nothing on the matter. Instead, he extended his own form of welcome. “My name’s Ryan, the lanky monster behind me is Shane. We just want to communicate with you out here. If you could say our names back to us, or make any whisper or noise at all…” The sentence died off into silence again, the co-hosts studying the barren canopy above them. 

There was no response save for the branches above, creaking from the lofty winds. They set off in a steady pace further into the woods, the air thick with apprehension as neither seemed to hear anything substantial. Ryan would occasionally pause and look around, muttering that he heard something, and Shane would dismiss it as a squirrel or chipmunk. Many times they were sent into bouts of hushed banter, often prompted by Shane knocking on the bark of the trees and pressing his ear against the trunk. He called it being thorough. Ryan called it being a prick.

It neared 1 in the morning when Ryan let out a soft sigh, turning around fully to face Shane. “Well, ghosts. You leave me with no choice.” The taller man tilted his head back and groaned in disdain as Ryan pulled out a box connected to a microphone. “This thing here… it should help you guys speak with us a bit clearer.”

“Oh yeah, really clear if you remove the ear grating white noise. But that would require us to turn of the spirit box.” Shane did nothing to hide is scorn, but made no move to stop Ryan as the box whirred to life. The noise screamed out into the forest, scaring off any lingering critters. Ryan made a few adjustments and the box was quelled to a reasonable volume. Shane relaxed slightly, shifting from foot to foot as he eyed the trees. “Well. You got your mic now. So… Ryan?,” he finished, quickly passing off the conversation to Ryan.

The shorter man scoffed, but began to talk. “So, as I said before, my name is Ryan, that’s Shane.” He pointed over to the lanky investigator. “Can any of you say our names back?” 

The box screeched , “tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss”

Shane leaned against a tree. “Nope, that’s a negative on that.”

“tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-eauh-ts-o-a-tss-tss-tss-tss”

“It’s trying at least.”

Ryan rolled his eyes at the comment and spoke to the box again. “Can you say that again? We couldn’t quite hear you.”

“tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-o-tss-tss-et-tss-off-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss”

In a second, Ryan’s eyes were blown wide open, staring up at Shane. Shane merely stared back, amusement setting in. “What?”

“It sounded like it said, ‘get off.’” Ryan’s head tilted over at Shane, gesturing to the way the taller man leaned back onto the tree trunk.

Shane looked at his posture, then shrugged. “If they want me to get off their tree, they’ll have to push me off,” he stated with a smirk.

Ryan could only breathe deeply, turning back to the box. “What’s your name?”

“tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-tss-a-ss-t-ve-tss-tss-tss-tss-ts-a-ul-ss-t-ve-s-t-e-s-tss-tss-en”

“Uh… Vincent? Alfred?,” Shane threw out without much consideration for what the spirit box might’ve actually said.

Ryan shook his head. “I think it said Alven.”

“Really? Because I heard, ‘astvasousvsen.’”

“How did you make that sound with your mouth? You don’t have a lot of room to do anything in there.”

“It’s not the size, it’s how you use it!”

“Is that what you say before sex?”

“No, Ryan. I have more class in bed than you do, apparently.”

“WHa-What to you mean ‘apparently!?’ You- that said nothing about me!”

Shane only laughed in response, walking down further into the forest. Ryan scrambled to catch up, silencing the spirit box, and Mark trailed behind. The tallest kept the lead up for a while till Mark commented that Ryan had dashed off into a different direction.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” was all Shane could say before he caught sight of his friend weaving between the trunks, seeking something. “Ryan!,” he called out lamely, setting out on steady pace to catch up to Ryan. 

The trees grew closer together, and branches hung lower, scratching at the top of Shane’s head as he passed through. The tangle of twigs above suffocated the moon’s light, and shadows encompassed the two men. Ryan was closer, but he was still chasing down something that neither Shane nor Mark could see. The coating of leaves on the forest floor turned to an ocean, the men’s feet sinking down with each step they took. Tired of strolling on after Ryan, Shane picked up his pace and broke into a light jog, ignoring the sticks that whipped his forehead. 

“Ryan, for fuck’s sake,” Shane muttered as he finally came into close enough proximity to grab his co-host’s arm and stop both of them. “Dude, planning on ditching me in this forest? This is way off the trail we were supposed to be sticking to.”

Ryan seemed to be reluctant to look up at Shane, but he did so nonetheless. “I thought I saw something running through here. It looked human.” Peculiarly, his voice wasn’t strained, and his face was relaxed. 

Shane sported his neutral attitude, pressing his lips together. “It could just be some bum tromping around in the woods.”

“It’s always something,” Ryan half mumbled.

“Yeah, it is always something, Ryan. It could be-”

“-a thousand things before it’s a ghost,” Ryan droned over top Shane’s own voice. He cast a glance out to the woods and his breath hitched. “Wait, Shane there!,” he frantically whisper yelled, pointing vaguely over into the shadowy distance.

They both kept their lights to the ground as to not scare off the potential evidence they garnered. There was some sort of mass among the trunks that shifted strangely, not quite human, but not quite like a breeze through a bush. It was indescribable in the situation, but the pair felt as though something was watching them intently. To say the least, it felt impossible. They didn’t even see a clear head in the amoebic mass. There was no clear definition of shape that suggested that it was anything more than a hunched back. Slowly, it rolled, dragging up a head that had merely been out of view, but it’s face was cast in shadow, no nose or eyes breaking through. Ryan gripped Shane’s arm in partial fear and partial excitement. Shane, however, just stared, waiting for it to speak, to give some sort of sign that it was just a random bozo in the woods. But no such thing passed. 

Both sides were locked in a strange form of staring contest for what seemed to hours when it was barely a minute when the shadow moved. It’s body bobbed forward, as if it took a step. Ryan instinctively took a step back while Shane remained in his place. The shorter man kept his hold on his friend’s arm, tugging the appendage back a bit with him. The form moved forward, and Ryan moved back, determined to keep the distance constant. Through another tug on Shane’s arm, the man finally stumbled back with the shorter investigator, snapping into action. He hastily flicked his flashlight up to catch the man within the light.

But there was nothing there.

While that made Shane breathe easy, it sent Ryan into a panicked frenzy. “You saw that, right!? There was something there, we both saw it!!” He pointed wildly to the spot where the shadow was.

All Shane could do was chuckle warmly. “Ryan, don’t you see what that was? Our eyes were playing tricks on us! There are a ton of branches and bushes around that we could easily mistake for human beings.” He turned to Mark, who was already pulling out his phone to open up his GPS. “We’ve been out here long enough. We should head back."

“Y-..you-you,” Ryan struggled with his words, stumbling over shock. “You’re just gonna live and let die!? After seeing that?”

“Yeah, I always do.” Shane looked back at Ryan. “Listen, I want to sleep. Can you grant me that, Bergara?”

Ryan let out a reluctant sigh, sauntering after Shane and Mark as they weaved their way back to the car. “Fine. But I’m checking that footage later.”

“As opposed to shooting an episode and… not going over the footage?”

“Shut up, Shane.”

“I’m just saying!”

“Well, I didn’t ask for your say, did I?”

“I need to keep you on your toes, man!”

“Whatever, let’s just go.”

“Agreed.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading all the way through! I hope you enjoyed it! Stay healthy


End file.
